Up until now I’ve been trying to let the consistency of our
faith, the solid love we show her and patience reflect our faith. But my heart
grieves for her. Any specific ideas for [her]?

A: Thank you for your question. First, keep in mind that a
person who has straight up intellectual
objections has no need of hostility. The intellectual objector is one who
has a truth claim question; they should not exhibit an adverse emotional reaction
to the issue at hand. A strong hostility towards belief in God would greatly
hinder a person from having an open mind that is willing to consider the
possibility of God’s existence.

However, in my experience, it is difficult to find anyone
who is a straight up intellectual objector to the existence of God. You may
find instead that she has a strong emotional commitment to her beliefs. If so, it
may be much harder for her to investigate what she believes.

My suggestion would be to ask her about her newfound beliefs as a Wiccan.
– Find
out what it is that she believes.
– Ask her why she thinks her beliefs are true.
This
is going to be a bit trickier than it sounds. She may question your motives for
asking. If that is the case, first, make sure your motives are as good as you
can get them. By this I mean that you are not out to embarrass her or show her
up. You must have a genuine interest in understanding her point of view in
order to effectively engage her in this conversation. If your motives are not
good, then neither will your conversation be good.

Ask her to name the source of her beliefs so you can read up
on her beliefs, this is specifically for the purpose of aiding the avoidance of
strawman building. Tell her that you wish to read the source for yourself so you
can learn about the belief and not misrepresent her view. Form some questions
based on this reading.

Ask her to support any statements you find in the belief
system that are self-refuting or inconsistent with the world we know.  I would ask this like Greg Koukl in his book Tactics, “Can you help me with
something….?” or “I’m not sure I understand this…..”

Basically, make the conversation about her views rather than
about yours. She may turn the conversation around to your views. If so, you
should provide some answers, but she must also provide answers. She is holding
to a view that also needs to be evidenced and reasoned.

I hope this helps you get started! I pray that your conversations will be
fruitful instead of hostile.

Thanks,
MJ

– Here’s an article on Wicca to get you started on understanding Wiccan beliefs, but don’t suppose this is necessarily what your foster daughter believes.